Giving Our Best 将最好的献上

[Dexu Xia]

Giving Our Best

He will purify . . . and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness.  Malachi 3:3

We stared at the piles of donated shoes as we entered a local homeless shelter. The director had invited our youth group to help sort through the heaps of used footwear. We spent the morning searching for matches and lining them up in rows across the concrete floor. At the end of the day, we threw away more than half of the shoes because they were too damaged for others to use. Though the shelter couldn’t stop people from giving poor quality items, they refused to distribute shoes that were in bad condition.

The Israelites struggled with giving God their damaged goods too. When He spoke through the prophet Malachi, He rebuked the Israelites for sacrificing blind, lame, or diseased animals when they had strong animals to offer (Malachi 1:6–8). He announced His displeasure (v. 10), affirmed His worthiness, and reprimanded the Israelites for keeping the best for themselves (v. 14). But God also promised to send the Messiah, whose love and grace would transform their hearts and ignite their desire to bring offerings that would be pleasing to Him (3:1–4).

At times, it can be tempting to give God our leftovers. We praise Him and expect Him to give us His all, yet we offer Him our crumbs. When we consider all God has done, we can rejoice in celebrating His worthiness and giving Him our very best.

Why are you sometimes tempted to give God your leftovers or damaged goods? In what ways will you give Him your best today?

Mighty God, please help me place You first and give You my best.

将最好的献上

祂必坐下如炼净银子的，⋯⋯熬炼他们像金银一样，他们就凭公义献供物给耶和华。—玛拉基书3章3节

当我们走进一间无家者收容所时，进入眼帘的是各方捐赠的一大堆鞋子。收容所的负责人邀请我们青年团契的成员帮忙整理这些旧鞋子。我们花了整个上午把鞋子配成对，并整齐地排放在水泥地板上。最后，我们扔掉了一半以上的鞋子，因为那些鞋子已严重破损，无法再继续使用。尽管收容所无法阻止人们捐赠劣质的物品，但他们绝不会将破损的鞋子分送出去。

在古时，以色列人也会将损坏之物献给上帝。上帝透过先知玛拉基斥责百姓，因他们明明有健壮的牲畜，却将瞎眼的、瘸腿的、有病的献为祭物（玛拉基书1章6-8节）。上帝向以色列民表达祂的不满（10节），宣称祂配受尊崇，并谴责他们将最好的留给自己（14节）。即便如此，上帝仍应许会差遣一位弥赛亚。这位弥赛亚的爱与恩典会改变众人的心，并激励他们甘心奉献蒙上帝悦纳的供物（3章1-4节）。

有时，我们也会想将剩余的献给上帝。我们赞美祂，期望祂赐给我们所有的一切，但我们却只将自己剩下的零碎献给祂。当我们思想上帝为我们成就的一切，我们就能将最好的献给祂，因祂全然配受我们的赞美！

为何有时你会想把剩余或损坏的东西献给上帝？
今天你要以什么方式将最好的献给祂呢？

全能的上帝，求祢帮助我，在凡事上都让祢居首位，
并将最好的献给祢。